NBA Attempted to Remove Donald Sterling in 1982 But Were Unsuccessful

A short while ago, the NBA's advisory and finance committee were unanimous in moving forward with the removal of Donald Sterling as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. It's an encouraging sign for those who want to see Sterling gone, however, the man himself probably isn't too nervous. Why, you ask? Because Sterling has been through this before. Back in 1982, the controversial owner was late on payments to his own players, hotels, and even forced his athletes to fly in coach even though their contract required them to fly first class.

Still, all that was superseded by a tape which recorded Sterling at a luncheon saying that the Clippers "finish last so they could draft a player like Ralph Sampson." Donald caught saying something on an audio recording, eh? Sound a little familiar? Anyway, the league responded by fining him $10,000. Then, an group of owners called the advisory and finance committee (eh, eh?) convened to decide Sterling's fate. After the meeting, an NBA source revealed to the Los Angeles Times: “He’s as good as gone." Eerie, huh?

Eight days after the committee's decision, Sterling said that he was going to sell the team. The announcement served as a temporary distraction of sorts, which bought Donald some time to fly under the radar and eventually, the NBA let it all fall by the wayside.